If losing the UFC middleweight title wasn’t enough, Israel Adesanya is now arrested for possession of a cold weapon. On Tuesday, JFK Airport officials deprived him of his freedom after they found metal knuckles in his luggage. Did Alex Pereira have something to do with it? People on the internet surely suggest so.
Last week, at the UFC 281 event, Israel Adesanya lost by a KO/TKO for the first time in his UFC career. He met with his old-time nemesis Alex Pereira in the octagon and couldn’t manage to last the full five rounds.
Israel Adesanya Arrested For Possession Of A Cold Weapon – Was He Carrying It To Feel Safe From Alex Pereira?
Reports state that the police arrested the UFC’s ex-middleweight champion at about 2 pm at JFK airport. This happened after the Airport security found two metal knuckles in his luggage. Port Authority Police Department confirmed the happening to numerous newsletters, explaining that Israel Adesanya didn’t pass the metal detector.
Even though metal knuckles could be allowed in some states, they are illegal and considered a cold weapon in the state of New York.
After a long conversation and the dispossession of the metal knuckles from Israel Adesanya, the police released him.
“Israel received a gift from a fan, which he put in his luggage.” – Israel Adesanya’s manager Tim Simpson revealed. “When flagged at the airport, Israel quickly disposed of the item and cooperated with authorities. He has complied accordingly. With that, the officials dismissed the matter, and he is on his way home.” There is still no official information on the event from the UFC.
The middleweight bout where Israel Adesanya lost his title didn’t go without a controversy attached to it. The ex-middleweight champion complained that the referee stopped the fight prematurely. Israel Adesanya attacked Marc Goddard for his bad accession and said that he could have continued. In reality, UFC fans do not agree with him, as he really looked like he cannot defend himself anymore.
The UFC considers the knockout to be a standing KO. However, at one point while Alex Pereira delivered his punches to Israel Adesanya, he tripped and fell on the canvas before making his way up to his feet again. In a matter of seconds, Alex Pereira landed a few shots to Israel Adesanya’s head and the referee decided to stop the beating.
There are UFC fans that claim that the referee stopped the fight prematurely. However, there are some that believe the referee should have stopped the fight when Israel Adesanya fell on the ground for the first time.
“You see when I get up, I’m fine because I was lucid.” – Israel Adesanya told The MMA Hour. “I didn’t get rocked-rocked. So he pushed me against the fence, and my thought was, ‘Escape laterally left or right’. And then I go right. And as I go right it isn’t because like he rocked me. It was (because of) my foot. So I went lateral, lateral, and I tripped and looked bad, so I think the referee was like, ‘Two big shots, and he wobbles. Oh s—.’ But, it wasn’t from the shots, I promise you. There’s no reason for me to lie. It was from the leg, which he caused the damage.”
Israel Adesanya’s loss and the story about the metal knuckles didn’t go unnoticed by the Twitter community. People started mocking him for being afraid of Pereira to the extent that he must carry a weapon with him.
“Why would he need brass knuckles to defend himself? He is a professional MMA fighter?” – One user noticed. “Dude is a trained fighter. If he attacked you without the brass knuckles it’s a crime. Brass knuckles take it to a whole other level.”
“Bro finally loses ONE fight and feels like he gotta carry brass knuckles.” – another one added. “Is he fearing that Alex Pereira might be waiting for him somewhere? Alex Pereira sure did a number on Izzy for him to resort to carrying brass knuckles sheesh.”
The UFC promotion hints at their fans for an immediate rematch between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. However, the fans, nor the middleweight competition are not happy about this. There is this feeling in the UFC community fan base that Israel Adesanya doesn’t deserve the rematch immediately.
Israel Adesanya had one of the wildest and longest reigns as a champion in the middleweight division in UFC. The UFC promotion is likely to give him the opportunity to change the things he did wrong at the match. However, fellow UFC contenders are not happy about it.
Sean Strickland is one of those who oppose this. He is certain that Israel Adesanya doesn’t deserve the immediate rematch.
“Here is the thing, it is not right.” – Sean Strickland told the MMA hour. “He shouldn’t have an immediate rematch. You should give the next guy in line a shot. But expletive UFC does what UFC does. I mean, it’s all about money, bro, and they look at that as Izzy is the most marketable to fight. But yeah, it’s not right and he shouldn’t get a rematch.”
Nevertheless, the UFC has a good background behind their decision for a rematch. The former champ beat everybody that they’ve put his way before the Alex Pereira bout. There are no top contenders that have a better record than him and that deserve the title shot more than him.
Do you believe that Israel Adesanya could beat Alex Pereira in a rematch? Does he have what it takes, or the curse of losing against Pereira will keep following him?
